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AS A REFRESHING BEVERAGE. 



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JTEW YORK: 
KTTSSELZ, BROS., 28, 30 & 32 Centre St. 



1868. 






Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1868, by 

C. C. DAWSON, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the 

Southern District of New York. 



Electrotyped by Smith & McDougal, 82 & 84 Beekman Street, New York. 







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SARATOGA: 



ITS 



MINERAL WATERS, 



AND TIIEIR USE IN 



PREVENTING AND ERADICATING DISEASE, 



AND 



AS A REFRESHING BEVERAGE. 



""ST C- O 







NEW "YORK. 



1868L 



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of the village 
OSSARAIOGA SPRINGS. 




PREFACE. 



The writer of the following pages has endeav- 
ored to give a faithful and comprehensive — though 
necessarily brief — account of Saratoga, and its re- 
markable medicinal springs. 

In regard to the character and history of these 
springs, there is manifested an increasing interest 
in every quarter of the world ; and as a descrip- 
tion of their medicinal properties is a matter of 
the utmost consequence, the writer has consulted 
the standard authorities upon the subject, ana. has 
not hesitated to make use of the exact language 
of medical men who have published the results of 
their experience in prescribing and using the 
waters. 

Although vast numbers annually visit the 
springs, it is evident that only a small proportion 



^ 

PKEFACE. . 5 | 



of those wlio might be restored to health by the 
use of these natural remedies can thus avail them- 
selves of their benefits. " The fashionable and 
the rich," writes an eminent divine, " who fill 
these splendid saloons, are not alone the people for 
whom the beneficent Creator opened these health- 
giving fountains; but they are also those who 
occupy the sick chambers in all parts of the earth, 
who have never seen Saratoga, but who are 
relieved and comforted by its waters." 

C. C. D, 



♦ 



SARATOGA SPRINGS. 



The most celebrated mineral waters on the 
American continent are those of Saratoga, N. Y. 

A tract of country many miles in extent is here 
found abounding in mineral springs, greatly di- 
versified as to their chemical combinations, and as 
widely varying in respect to their importance as 
medicinal agents. The springs occur in a valley 
which runs nearly north and south through the 
elevated table-lands of this region, and in the 
midst of scenery of a varied and picturesque char- 
acter. Mountain ranges whose bold outlines are 
seen in the distant background ; rivers, among the 
finest in the world ; rivulets and creeks in great 
numbers and of exquisi te beauty ; dense forests 
still undisturbed by the woodman's axe ; lakes of 
surpassing loveliness ; the peculiar charm of culti- 
vated fields and rural villages, — all contribute to 
render this portion of the state highly attractive 
to the professional tourist, as well as to the ordi- 
nary seeker after health and pleasure. 

The county of Saratoga lies between those 
streams so " famed in song and story," the Hud- 
son river on the north and east, and the Mohawk 
on the south. To the north-west its surface is 
mountainous, suggesting the region of mountain- 
wilderness which lies beyond ; but its ruggcdness 






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12 SARATOGA SPRINGS. 

It is eminently roomy and comfortable, and as a 
summer resort is probably unsurpassed in tliis 
country. The number of its rooms — many of them 
in suites for the accommodation of families — is 
upward of seven hundred. The dining-room pro- 
per, on Congress street, with wide and airy spaces 
through the hall and between the tables, accommo- 
dates one thousand persons ; while, with the addi- 
tion of the north piazza, expressly designed as an 
auxiliary, the dining-room capacity is increased to 
fourteen hundred. Over half a mile of piazzas — 
an indispensable feature of summer hotels — and a 
dancing hall, 75 by 200 feet, on Washington street, 
are among the attractions of the Union. It is 
fitted up in excellent style, and is rendered espe- 
cially attractive by the fine grove of elms consti- 
tuting its court-yard — partially inclosed by its 
various buildings— where the band of the Union 
plays daily. Large buildings for swimming, pi unge, 
shower, hot and cold water baths, a club house, 
and an elegant opera house, with a capacity for 
accommodating fifteen hundred persons, add to 
the completeness of the establishment. The Union 
occupies the block lying between Washington and 
Congress streets, fronting on Broadway, with its 
rear on Federal street. Its location, in the imme- 
diate vicinity of the Congress Spring Park, is 
central and delightful. Its proprietors are con- 
nected with several of the finest hotels of the 
country, and have acquired a wide celebrity as lib- 



SARATOGA SPRINGS. 13 



eral and successful caterers. They justly pride 
themselves upon the sumptuous and elegant fare 
which distinguishes their establishments. 

Congress Hall, H. H. Hathorn proprietor, 
is an entirely new building, erected on the site 
of the old house of the same name which was de- 
stroyed by fire, May 30, 1866. In completeness of 
interior arrangements, as well as in an architec- 
tural point of view, it is one of the finest hotels in 
the country. It is five stories high, and has a front 
on Broadway of four hundred and sixteen feet, ex- 
tending from Spring to Congress streets, with two 
wings of equal height, three hundred feet each, 
extending to Putnam street in the rear. It over- 
looks the Congress Spring and the beautiful 
grounds surrounding it, which are situated on the 
opposite side of Congress street. Ample piazzas 
and shaded balconies afford guests very desirable 
facilities for viewing the multitudes always throng- 
ing in the vicinity of these chief attractions of the 
village. The halls throughout the house are ten 
feet wide. It contains all the modern improve- 
ments, having immense and magnificent dining 
halls ; a correspondingly ample culinary depart- 
ment, with many novel and desirable features ; 
superior accommodations for bathing; bells and 
gas in every room ; water-closets on every floor ; 
and every provision practicable for the convenience 
and comfort of its guests. By means of iron 



1 



_ ^ 

SARATOGA SPRINGS. 15 



doors, arranged to slide in the partition walls, 
— which are made of extra thickness on this 
account, — the house is capable of being instantly 
converted into several fire-proof compartments, 
the advantage of which, in case of fire, will 
be readily appreciated. The house can take 
good care of from twelve hundred to fourteen 
hundred persons. Its proprietor was long well 
and favorably known as the proprietor of the for- 
mer house. 

The Springs are annually visited by upward 
of seventy thousand strangers, coming from every 
part of the Union, and from Canada, Europe, 
Mexico, South America, and the West Indies. 
Excellent bands of music play at the hotels each 
afternoon and evening during the height of the 
season, and a fine band also discourses harmony 
in the elegant park of the Congress Spring during 
some hours of each day. The streets are thronged 
with a gay and brilliant multitude, engaged in 
riding, driving, or walking, each enjoying to the 
utmost a fascinating kind of busy idleness. 
Amusements of various kinds abound, and conduce 
much to the general lively and animated appear- 
ance of the town, while they indicate that pleasure 
and fashion are happily combined, and most prop- 
erly associated with the medical treatment. 

The Rensselaer and Saratoga Railroad passes 
through the village, connecting, at Troy, with 
the Hudson River and Harlem Railroads from 



16 SABATOGA SPRINGS. 

New York ; at Albany, with the People's Line of 
steamers on the Hudson River, and the Boston 
and Albany Railroad from the east; at Schenec- 
tady, with the New York Central Railroad from 
the west ; and at Rutland, with the Rutland and 
Burlington Railroad from both north and east ; 
and at Whitehall, with the Lake Champlain 
steamers. Trains on the Rensselaer and Saratoga 
Railroad run each way twice a day, during the 
winter months, and three or more times a day 
during the summer months, connecting at above- 
named points with trains and steamers from all 
portions of the Northern, Eastern, and Western 
States, and Canada. Passengers by the day boats 
on the Hudson River have a full view of the mag- 
nificent Highlands of the Hudson, and of the Cats- 
kill Mountains, and reach Saratoga the same 
evening. Lake George, Lake Champlain, the 
Green Mountains, the Thousand Islands, Niagara 
Falls, Trenton Falls, Richfield, Sharon and Leb- 
anon Springs, are all within a day's travel of 
Saratoga. 

The country about Saratoga affords a variety 
of attractive drives, among the most popular of 
which is a short one of only four miles to Saratoga 
Lake. This beautiful sheet of water is visited 
daily by large parties during the season. Hotels 
upon its banks provide tempting dinners of fish 
and game, and boats are at hand for such as desire 
to enjoy a trip upon the water. 



_ -^ 

SARATOGA SPRINGS. 17 



Bemis , Heights, in the town of Stillwater, the 
scene of the famous engagement between Bur- 
goyne and General Gates, and the scene of Bur- 
goyne's surrender, in Schuylerville, are within a 
pleasant two hours' drive of the Springs. They 
are imperishably associated with some of the most 
important events in the early history of our country. 

Within a short distance of the Springs are sev- 
eral elevated points which afford characteristic 
views of the scenery of this region. All imagin- 
able combinations and varieties of detail are here 
presented, but each position displays some new 
feature of mountain scenery, near or remote, with 
lakes of crystal purity, silvery streams, and beauti- 
ful valleys, which can not fail to be keenly enjoyed 
by all who find a pleasure in charming panoramic 
effects. Among those elevations which will best 
repay the visit of the tourist are Waring Hill, or 
" Mount Loper," sixteen miles distant, on the road 
to Mount Pleasant ; Stiles' Hill, which is reached 
by a drive of a few miles along the east base of 
the Palmertown Mountain ; Chapman's Hill, which 
is reached by extending the lake drive across the 
bridge, and along the lake shore, for a mile, turn- 
ing thence to the left for a short and sharp ascent ; 
Wagman's Hill, which lies three miles beyond the 
last-named, and is nearly sixty feet higher; and 
Hagerty Hill, six miles from the Springs, near the 
road leading from the village to Luzerne, on the 
Hudson River. 



.♦ 



13 SARATOGA SPRINGS. 

Corinth Falls, in the Hudson, are fifteen miles 
north of Saratoga Springs, and about one mile 
from Jessup's Landing. Baker, Glen, and Hadley 
Falls are also among the numerous falls of the 
Hudson. These are about eighteen miles from 
the Springs, and, like Corinth Falls, are highly 
interesting, and well entitled to che notice of the 
tourist. 

Lake George, greatly renowned for its prom- 
inent association with our early colonial and 
revolutionary history, as well as for its remarkable 
beauty, is twenty-seven miles distant. The strik- 
ing scenery of its banks, its singular transparency, 
and the multitudes of little islands which dot its 
surface like gems of emerald, render it probably the 
most picturesque sheet of water in the country. 

A view of the celebrated Cohoes Falls, on the 
Mohawk, is afforded in passing by rail from Al- 
bany to the Springs ; but a carriage ride to the 
Falls, through the beautiful agricultural lands of 
that section, will give a much more satisfactory 
idea of the Falls and surrounding scenery. 

A new avenue, which is called the " Mountain 
Drive," has recently been opened by the exten- 
sion of Broadway northerly from the village. 
When the projected improvements are completed 
it will be a popular thoroughfare. 

But notwithstanding its connection with the 
War for American Independence, its salubrious 
climate, and the scenic charms of the country, 



SARATOGA SPRINGS. 19 

Saratoga Springs must always be chiefly cele- 
brated for its mineral fountains, and as a resort for 
invalids and pleasure-seekers. 

Mineral waters have doubtless been used for 
the cure of diseases from the earliest ages. They 
are among those natural remedies which a primi- 
tive people would be likely to find best accommo- 
dated to their simple habits, and which they would 
adopt with that quick instinct, the wisdom and 
beneficence of whose guidance is so often con- 
firmed in more favored times by an enlightened 
judgment and the results of scientific researches. 
Accustomed to a nomadic life, these people would 
of necessity seek the vicinity of springs and streams 
of water for their temporary resting-places ; and 
as all spring and well waters are impregnated 
more or less with mineral elements derived from 
the soil through which they pass, and varying 
in different localities, they would soon discover 
that certain waters possessed peculiar virtues. 

Only such waters, however, as may be used for 
the treatment of disease, or for some special in- 
fluence on the animal economy, are properly class- 
ed as mineral waters. Anciently, such waters were 
regarded as almost sacred ; and when the pool of 
Bethesda was agitated so that its strong medicinal 
properties were most active, the waiting multi- 
tudes supposed that an angel from heaven " trou- 
bled the water." The Greeks used mineral waters 
for drinking as well as for bathing ; and the luxu- 



■-♦ 



20 SARATOGA SPRINGS. 

rious Romans were accustomed to spend their sum- 
mer months at the once famous watering-place of 
Baiae, where a mild climate, a sheltered coast, and 
delightful scenery combined their attractions with 
those of the waters whose healing powers had then 
a world-wide celebrity. In the old world, the 
springs of Harrowgate, Cheltenham, and Bath, in 
England, Seidlitz in Bohemia, Spa in Belgium, 
Baden-Baden and Seltzer in Germany, and Aix-la- 
Chapelle in Rhenish Prussia, while they are of 
very ancient renown, are still at this day annually 
resorted to by thousands of fashionable and wealthy 
pleasure-seekers, as well as by invalids of almost 
every description. 

It has already been remarked that mineral 
springs abound throughout this vicinity. Many 
of these possess very little medicinal virtue. 
Among these at or near the village are the Con- 
gress, Empire, Columbian, Hamilton, Excelsior, 
Pavilion, Putnam, Washington, Star, High Rock, 
and Seltzer. Of these, by far the most important, 
commercially, as well as the most interesting for 
their medicinal character and history, are the three 
first-named. A particular notice of these springs 
will include all that it is needful to say in regard 
to the general character of the mineral waters of 
Saratoga. 



«. O 



SARATOGA SPRINGS. 21 



CONGRESS SPRING. 



This, the most famous of the medicinal springs 
of Saratoga, was discovered in 1792, by a party of 
gentlemen who were engaged in hunting in the 
vicinity. One of these was John Taylor Gil- 
man, a member of Congress, from Exeter, New 
Hampshire. Their attention was attracted to a 
small stream of water issuing from the rocky bank 
of the creek along which they were strolling, and 
which, upon being tested, was found to be a min- 
eral water of agreeable taste and remarkable 
strength. The importance of the discovery seems 
to have been at once apprehended, and out of com- 
pliment to the leading personage of the company, 
and as a token of their high opinion of its value, 
the name of the Congress Spring was then 
and there bestowed upon it. At first the water 
could be obtained only in small quantities, owing 
to the position of the rock, and the nature of the 
aperture from which it flowed ; and this, with its 
increasing popularity, soon being found to be insuf- 
ficient, efforts were made to render it more cces- 
sible, and at the same time to increase the supply. 
These efforts resulted in a temporary obstruction 
of the water. 



l 



\2 SARATOGA SPRINGS. 



In 1804, Gideon Putnam, who was one of the 
founders of the village, and to whose enterprise 
and liberality it is indebted for many valuable im- 
provements, observing bubbles rising to the surface 
of the brook within a few feet from the spot at which 
the water was first observed to flow, conceived the 
idea that the princijjal point of discharge was in 
the bed of the brook, and that by turning the 
stream aside through an artificial channel this 
invaluable spring might be permanently secured. 
In carrying out this design he was entirely suc- 
cessful, a copious supply of the mineral water being 
found to flow from the point indicated. After thus 
reaching the spring, he caused the earth to be care- 
fully removed some feet below the bed of the 
brook, and by proper tubing so effectually pro- 
tected it that an apparently unlimited supply was 
secured, without the necessity of any further exca- 
vation or tubing, for about forty years. At this 
time the grounds containing the Congress spring 
were owned by the Livingstons, an old and well 
known family, who had obtained the property 
under an early grant or purchase. 

In 1823, Dr. John Clarke, of New York, a gentle- 
man of very considerable scientific knowledge, and 
who had introduced the first soda-water fountains 
in that city, having seen and examined the water, 
and being convinced of its great medical virtues, 
and prospective commercial value, purchased the 
spring farm, as well as other property in the vicin- 



SARATOGA SPRINGS. 23 

ity, and at once instituted various improvements, 
and commenced bottling the waters for exporta- 
tion and sale. This business was carried on by 
by Dr. Clarke and his partner in New York, 
under the style of Lynch & Clarke, until the 
death of the former, about 1833, after which Dr. 
John Clarke conducted it alone. 

In 1842, the original tubing having become 
somewhat impaired, Dr. Clarke caused it to be 
thoroughly overhauled, and a substantial new 
crib to be sunk to the point at which the water 
issued from the rock below. Here, by means of 
careful packing with clay, it was secured in such 
a manner as to protect the spring more perfectly 
than ever before, while at the same time the sup- 
ply was sensibly augmented. The business con- 
tinued and steadily increased under Dr. Clarke's 
judicious management, until the time of his death, 
which occurred in 1846. For some years after this 
event the business was carried on by Dr. Clarke's 
heirs, under the name of Clarke & Co. 

About the year 1852, William B. White, Esq., 
who had been previously connected with the busi- 
ness as an employe, acquired an interest in the 
property, and thereafter assumed control of the 
same, conducting the business in the name of 
Clarke & White. He continued the system of 
extensive and costly improvements inaugurated 
by Dr. Clarke, and largely increased the sale of 
the waters, to protect and permanently secure 



24 SARATOGA SPRINGS. 

which, in their natural purity and strength, he 
expended large amounts. 

In July, 1865, the property passed from the 
executors of the estate of William B. White 
into the hands of a company incorporated under 
the laws of the State of New York, who, at the 
same time, purchased the Empire Spring, and 
assumed the management of the business, under 
the name of the Congress and Empire Spring 
Company. This company continues the bottling, 
packing and shipping of the waters, which are 
sent, not only to all portions of the United States 
and the British Provinces, but, to a considerable 
extent, also, to Mexico, South America, the West 
Indies, Europe, and China. The sale in foreign 
countries is constantly increasing. The home de- 
mand was never so great as at the present time. 
It would be difficult indeed to find a town of any 
magnitude in the United States where these wa- 
ters are not kept for sale; and scarcely a vessel 
leaves our shores for any distant port which does 
not reckon them among its stores cr freight. 



SARATOGA SPRINGS. 25 



EMPIRE SPRING. 



This spring is situated near the base of a high, 
limestone bluff in the northerly part of the village, 
about three-fourths of a mile from the Congress 
Spring, and is the most northerly spring of any 
considerable importance within the village limits. 
The presence of mineral water in this locality 
had been known for a long period ; but, owing to 
the popularity of the Congress Spring, and the 
great expense attending the excavations and im- 
provements requisite to make the water practi- 
cally available, its development was neglected 
until the year 1846, when William and Henry S. 
Robinson, who were the owners of the property, 
undertook to tube it. They made an excavation 
about twelve feet in depth, eight of which passed 
through the dense hard pan to the solid rock, 
from which the water was found to issue so copi- 
ously that it became a task of no small magnitude 
properly to secure it. It was tubed, however, 
directly from the rock, and in the most thorough 
and satisfactory manner. The water immediately 
attracted general attention, and it was evident 
that it was of a quality scarcely, if at all, inferior 
in any respect to that of the Congress Spring, 



SARATOGA SPRINGS. 27 

while a chemical analysis, which was made 
during the same year by Prof. E. Emmons, then 
State Geologist, and a man of eminent scientific 
attainments, developed the fact that it possessed 
some valuable properties which adapted it to the 
successful treatment of various forms of lung 
complaints — a class of diseases hitherto thought 
to be beyond the remedial powers of the waters 
of this locality. Its chief distinguishing feature 
was the presence of a large proportion of iodine, 
a remedy possessiDg great and important quali- 
ties, and which has been used with remarkable 
success in the cure of almost every species of 
chronic affections. The knowledge of its charac- 
teristic properties thus acquired, so favorably 
impressed Prof. Emmons that he immediately pur- 
chased one-fourth interest in the spring ; and its 
successful use in the treatment of diseases has given 
it a rapidly increasing popularity, and fully con- 
firmed the favorable opinions originally founded 
upon its scientific analysis. 

From the general resemblance of this to the 
Congress Spring, it was at first called the " New 
Congress ; " but afterward, in 1848, when it came 
into the hands of George W. Weston and Peck- 
ham H. Green, it received its present name, as 
significant of its speedily acquired importance. 
These parties, under the firm name of G. W. Wes- 
ton & Co., commenced bottling the water, and 
making extensive improvements, particularly in 



28 SARATOGA SPRINGS. 

the opening of streets, and draining and ornament- 
ing the grounds, and their business soon acquired 
a considerable degree of magnitude. 

In 1861, the property was sold for $100,000, to 
D. A. Knowlton, and in 1863, Knowlton con- 
veyed the same to the Saratoga Empire Spring 
Company, of which company he became the Presi- 
dent, and by whom the present buildings were 
erected. This company transferred the property 
by deed to the Congress & Empire Spring 
Company, upon its consolidation with that com- 
pany, in 1865, the latter company thus assuming 
its management in connection with that of the 
Congress Spring, as already stated. 



COLUMBIAN SPRING. 



This mineral spring, situated omy a few rods 
southwesterly from the Congress, was originally 
tubed by Gideon Putnam, about the year 1805. 
It soon acquired a considerable reputation for its 
tonic properties, and of late years has become 
widely known for its virtues in particular diseases, 
of which mention will be made hereafter. Since 



SARATOGA SPRINGS. 29 

the discovery of its peculiar remedial properties, 
the sale of its waters, as well as the quantity 
drank at the spring, has largely increased, and at 
the present time the demand is nearly equal to the 
capacity of the spring. Being situated upon the 
same property with the Congress Spring, Dr. John 
Clarke came into possession of it at the time of 
his purchase of the Congress, and it has ever since 
been owned and controlled by the same parties. 

The spring issues from the natural rock, about 
seven feet below the surface of the ground, and is 
protected by a heavy wooden tubing, which is 
deeply incrusted by a ferruginous deposit. 



PHYSICAL PROPERTIES 

OF THESE WATERS. 

These springs, in their general appearance, are 
so nearly alike, that they may be described in 
almost the same terms. As viewed at the springs, 
the waters present a simmering appearance, which 
is sometimes increased to a degree of violent agita- 
tion, caused by the escape of the carbonic acid gas, 
which is constantly passing off, and which, being 
more dense than the atmosphere, collects over the 
surface of the water to such an extent as to be im- 
mediately fatal to breathing animals placed in 
close contact with it. 



30 SARATOGA SPRINGS. 

The waters are limpid and sparkling, which 
qualities they retain in a remarkable degree when 
bottled ; although the Columbian Water, being 
strongly impregnated with iron, deposits a red- 
dish-brown sediment, with which also the glasses 
used at the spring become incrusted. The glasses 
used in dipping the waters of the Congress and 
Empire Springs become tarnished with a whit- 
ish incrustation, indicating, particularly in the 
case of the Congress Spring, the presence of a large 
amount of magnesia. 

The waters have a saline, acidulous taste, which 
is seldom considered unpleasant. Indeed, while 
their medicinal properties are most effective, they 
are highly agreeable to the palate, and those who 
are accustomed to their habitual use regard them 
as a delightful beverage. This is, in a large de- 
gree, owing to the presence of the carbonic acid 
gas, which gives the bright sparkling appearance 
to wines, and renders soda waters and sim- 
ilar preparations so extremely palatable. Great 
numbers of persons drink the waters daily, merely 
to allay thirst, or to gratify the palate ; and even 
though taken in liberal quantities they are re- 
garded as invigorating and wholesome, and their 
effects are seldom unpleasant. 

The temperature of the springs preserves a groat 
degree of uniformity — that of the Congress being 
49°, the Empire 54°, and the Columbian 49°,— 
with the variation of scarcely a degree in all the 



O 



SARATOGA SPRINGS. 31 

extremes of heat- and cold throughout the year. 
This fact, together with the circumstance of the 
waters being but slightly affected by wet or dry 
weather, has led to the belief, entertained by many 
scientific men, that these fountains have their 
source at a great depth in the earth. 

The combination of so large an amount of car- 
bonic acid in the water, more than one volume of 
the gas being held in solution, increases its powers 
to hold other minerals in solution, and accounts 
for the fact that the water, upon evaporation, de- 
posits mineral salts which many times its bulk of 
common rain-water will not re-dissolve. 

When properly bottled and corked, the waters 
are preserved with remarkable facility, scarcely 
undergoing any change whatever, chemically or 
medicinally, in any climate, or after a very con- 
siderable lapse of time. Tne bottles, however, 
should be kept in a horizontal position, to prevent 
the shrinking of corks ; and with this simple pre- 
caution, the waters may be safely taken upon long 
sea- voyages, and will be found bright and sparkling 
even after the lapse of several years. 

Various tests, which have been applied during a 
long series of years, indicate that there has been 
no appreciable change in the chemical properties 
or medicinal qualities of the waters, and satisfac- 
torily prove that these fountains retain their orig- 
inal character in a remarkable manner. 

xilthough, on being exposed to the atmosphere, 



32 SARATOGA SPRINGS. 

a considerable quantity of carbonic acid gas is dis- 
engaged from the waters, experiments have shown 
that they still retain the gas largely in combina- 
tion, for which reason no considerable precipitation 
of their salts takes place until the waters them- 
selves are evaporated. 



MEDICINAL PROPERTIES 

OF THESE WATERS. 

Congress Water. — While these waters have 
active remedial properties, their effects, when used 
in comparative health, as an agency for promoting 
and regulating the healthy secretions and excre- 
tions of the body, should not be overlooked. They 
give tone to, and prevent uneasiness of, the stom- 
ach, especially when drank in small quantities 
after meals ; and their slightly stimulating effects 
are especially agreeable to the overtaxed and 
wearied man of business, who feels that something 
is wanted to " clear the head," and to give acute- 
ness and working power to the mental organism. 
Being readily absorbed and conveyed by the cir- 
culation through the entire system, their stimulat- 
ing effects are speedily perceived, and the result 
is an almost immediate sense of freshness and 
quickened vitality. As a preventive also of fevers 
and bilious disorders their use is very beneficial ; 



SARATOGA SPRINGS. 33 

persons who are in the habitual use of the waters 
rarely or never suffering from those periodical at- 
tacks of fever, headache, and other affections in- 
dicating excessive biliary secretions, so common in 
this country. As a safeguard against these forms 
of disease, when taken in health, these waters are 
the " ounce of prevention " which is infinitely bet- 
ter than a " pound of cure." 

As an aperient or catJiartic, Congress Water, 
taken at proper times, and in suitable quantities, 
is conceded to be most innocent in its effects, pro- 
ducing no reaction which can injure even a delicate 
constitution ; and its use may be persevered in for 
almost any length of time, without increasing the 
quantity taken, as is so often necessary in the use 
of other cathartics. Even with a gradual diminu- 
tion of the quantity, free evacuations will continue 
until the system is properly relieved. These effects 
are produced without in any manner debilitating 
the alimentary canal, or impairing the digestive 
powers of the stomach ; while the spirits, appetite, 
and general health are improved and invigorated. 

In all those functional affections of the organs 
employed in the process of digestion, constituting 
what is usually termed dyspepsia, the waters of 
this spring have long maintained a high and de- 
served reputation. Multitudes of both sexes often 
suffer from constipation of the bowels until all the 
evil consequences of such a condition are realized 
in extreme debility, nervousness, and prostration 



> — — — - — . 

84 SAKATOGA SPBIKGS. 



of the vital energies of tlie system, who miglit 
find speedy and certain relief by the use of this 
simple and harmless remedy. Invalids have been 
often surprised and delighted, after using the 
waters a few weeks, to find themselves rapidly 
gaining flesh and strength ; the real secret of their 
improvement being in the effect of the water, 
which greatly increases the power of assimilation, 
thereby securing a larger proportion of the nutri- 
tion contained in food, much of which is lost when 
the digestive functions have become impaired. In 
cases of chronic dyspepsia, a persevering use of the 
water, with proper dietetic restrictions, and suitable 
attention to the ordinary rules of health, gives the 
sufferer a speedy sense of relief, and in the end is 
certain to eradicate the disease, with its attendant 
miseries. 

Where there is a debilitated condition of the 
stomach and bowels^ resulting in chronic diarrhcea, 
the water acts at once as a mild and agreeable 
cathartic, producing free dejections, without lan- 
guor or debility, thus removing the foetid and 
irritating accumulations induced by the inflated 
state of the system, and which provoke the dis- 
ease ; and it also acts as a gentle stimulant, by 
which the digestive functions are improved, and 
such additional strength imparted to the body as 
enables nature successfully to combat with the 
disease. These effects indicate the grounds upon 
which these waters have long been recommended 



<>- 



SARATOGA SPRINGS. 35 

as a preventive of cholera. In cases of the appear- 
ance of the premonitory symptoms, or of an ac ual 
attack of the disease, they have been used, in con- 
nection with other remedies, with the best results. 
The waters operate powerfully upon the biliary 
organs without enfeebling — the effects which, in 
cholera, physicians endeavor to produce by calo- 
mel pills combined with opium. The late Chan- 
cellor Walworth, but a short time before his 
death, published, in an Albany paper, a letter 
which has since been issued in pamphlet form, 
and extensively copied by the press of the country, 
in which he detailed his experience in the use of 
Congress Water, both as a preventive of, and a 
remedy for, this terrible disease — showing that 
very efficient relief might be obtained by its use. 

The use of the water as a cathartic is also bene- 
ficial in jaundice, the various forms of neuralgia, 
enlargement of the liver and spleen, rheumatic 
affections, cutaneous diseases, and in nearly all dis- 
orders occasioned by that round of fashionable 
indulgences generally termed " high living." In- 
stead of causing nausea or disturbance of the 
stomach, as is the effect of ordinary cathartics, the 
water, while it produces copious evacuations, seems 
at the same time to invigorate the whole system, 
giving a relish for the coarsest and most common 
articles of food. The freedom from griping pains 
which is noticeable in the cathartic operations of 
the water, is owing to the seda .^vS of the 



36 SARATOGA SPRINGS. 

carbonic acid gas, which also tends to prevent that 
sense of languor usually accompanying the opera- 
tions of ordinary medicines of this class. 

The proper time to take these waters as a 
cathartic is in the morning only, except in cases 
where satisfactory effects are not obtained from 
the morning draught, when it may be taken as a 
laxative on going to bed, to be followed in the 
morning by such additional quantity of the water 
as will answer the wishes of the patient, without 
subjecting him to inconvenience. This being, es- 
pecially in persons of weak or irritable stomachs, 
the only time in the twenty-four hours in which 
the digestive organs are not engaged in the solu- 
tion and absorption of aliment, is evidently the 
best time to interpose a mild, exhilarating, and 
efficient cathartic. Let the water be taken always 
before breakfast, and in quantities sufficient to 
produce a free evacuation, and leave the digestive 
functions at liberty to exert their renewed powers 
on the next portion of food received into the stom- 
ach. Many persons receive permanent injury by 
indulging too freely in the use of the water, sup- 
posing that its beneficial effects are in proportion 
to the quantity imbibed, whereas the facts are very 
different. Two or three half-pint tumblers full, 
drank leisurely at the spring or from the bottle ; 
a pleasant walk, if practicable, for ten or fifteen 
minutes ; another glass or two, if desired, on re- 
turning to breakfast, which may be eaten in twenty 

> _._ — = <> 



PRICES 

For Congress, Empire and Columbian Spring Waters. 
— ♦ — - 

DELIVERED IN BOXES, containing 4 Dozen Pints or 
2 Dozen Quarts each. 

CONGRESS WATER. 

Pints, $9 50 per box. 

Quarts 7 50 per box. 

EMPIRE WATER. 

Pints, $8 10 per box. 

Quarts, '. 6 00 per box. 

COLUMBIAN WATER. 

Half Pints (4 doz.), $7 50 per box. 

Pints, 9 50 per box. 

4W3° 

DELIVERED IN BASKETS, in quantities of not less 
than A Dozen Pints or 2 Dozen Quarts. 

CONGRESS WATER. 

Pints, $2 25 per doz. 

Quarts, 3 50 per doz. 

EMPIRE WATER. 

Pints, $1 90 per doz. 

Quarts, 2 75 per doz. 

COLUMBIAN WATER. 

Half Pints (4 doz.), $1 75 per doz. 

Pints, 2 25 per doz. 

-<§> 

4Sg~ Delivered and Shipped in the City of New York, below 60th 
Street, daily, and in Brooklyn on Tuesdays and Fridays, FREE OF 
CHARGE. 

ALLOWANCE EOR BOTTLES RETURNED. 
Half Pints, 30c. per doz. ; Pints, 40c. per doz. ; Quarts, 60c. per doz. 

CONGRESS AND EMPIRE SPRING COMPANY, 

94 Chambers St., near Broadway, N. Y. 
Orders by Mail will receive prompt attention. 
New York, January 1, 1869. 



SARATOGA SPRINGS. 37 

or thirty minutes after, — a sip of tea or coffee being 
previously taken, — will generally insure the full 
cathartic effect at once ; and if the operation is 
more active than desired, the quantity may "be 
diminished, and if not sufficient, increased, the 
next morning. 

If the water at its natural temperature produces 
chilliness, let it stand (properly bottled and corked) 
in your room over night ; and if more active ca- 
thartic effects are desired, immerse the bottle, un- 
corked, for a short time in warm water, drinking 
its contents while warm, and the desired effects 
will be speedily obtained. When the temperature 
of the water is thus raised, some portion of the 
carbonic acid gas becomes disengaged, and passes 
off, and the taste is less agreeable, but still not 
especially unpleasant. 

A free indulgence in the water during the day is 
more likely to be injurious than beneficial, as 
when the stomach is full the water imbibed (if in 
in large quantities) only tends to disturb diges- 
tion, and generally fails of producing the cathartic 
effect which properly follows the morning draught. 
As an alterative, however, after proper cathartic 
effects have been obtained from the use of the wa- 
ter, it may be taken in small potations repeatedly 
through the day. If the draughts are limited to 
such very moderate quantities as will produce no 
unpleasant feeling, and no disturbance of the 
digestive functions, the water will be taken up in 



SARATOGA SPRINGS. 



the circulation, and conveyed throughout the sys- 
tem, thus gradually effecting a change in all the 
secretions of the body, by which the work of 
renovation and reparation is more perfectly accom- 
plished. 

As a diuretic and tonic, also, the water may be 
taken between meals, not exceeding a glass or two 
at a time, and as often as once in three or four 
hours. Taken in this manner it will be found to 
be agreeably stimulating, and to have a marked 
effect on the kidneys and bladder; although, 
owing to the peculiar properties of the Columbian 
Spring Waters, they are more frequently recom- 
mended when these effects are desired. 

As a general renovator and preserver of health, 
as a home remedy at once innocent and efficient, 
Congress Water is of incalculable value. It is pre- 
scribed by the faculty in certain diseases with as 
much confidence as any preparation known to the 
apothecary. It is in an eminent sense Nature's 
own remedy, and thousands use it who resort to 
no other medicine, never suffering themselves to 
be without it in their houses, and never venturing 
to go upon a long journey, especially a voyage at 
sea, without being provided with it as an excellent 
and judicious traveling companion. It is an al- 
most absolute preventive of sea-sickness. Hon. 
Thurlow Weed declares that " no family ought 
to cross the Atlantic without Congress Water." 
"I have drank it," he says, "in the Tropical 



SARATOGA SPRINGS. 39 

Islands, in England, in France, in Germany, and 
Italy, with the same beneficial effects as when 
drawn fresh from the Spring ;" and he and many 
others characterize it, as it truly is, a delightful 
becerage. 

Empire Water. — The close resemblance of 
this water to the Congress in many of its proper- 
ties has already been remarked. In the cathartic 
effects of the two waters, the difference is scarcely 
appreciable, although from the presence of a larger 
quantity of magnesia in the Congress Water, the 
operation of the latter is perhaps somewhat more 
pungent. But with very many constitutions the 
Empire Water produces the most agreeable results. 
It can not be predicted with certainty in any in- 
stance, which water, as a cathartic, will be most 
effective, and after trial and comparison of the 
effects of both waters, the preference is frequently 
given to this. 

The value of the waters has been best shown in 
the treatment of obscure and chronic diseases. In 
many instances persons have been restored to 
health, or greatly relieved by the use of these rem- 
edies, when all others proved of no avail. Al- 
though the science of chemical analysis has now 
attained a good degree of accuracy, the waters 
doubtless still contain elements not yet known to 
chemistry or pharmacy. These, entering into and 
forming a part of the inimitable composition of 



40 SARATOGA SPRINGS. 

these waters, enable them to exercise upon the 
general economy a multifarious action which all 
the united resources of ordinary therapeutics can 
not effect. The salts of iodine are of recent discov- 
ery in chemistry, but, as component parts of certain 
mineral waters, have long been successfully used 
in the treatment of disease. It is evident, there- 
fore, that there may be other remedies in these 
waters still unrecognized except in the effects pro- 
duced by their use. 

Empire water is used successfully by those who 
are suffering from the incipient stages of 'pulmo- 
nary disease. Instead of producing fever, increase 
of cough, or any other unpleasant symptoms, it 
gives relief, and causes a diminution of night 
sweats. Coughs and pains about the pectoral 
regions, where dependent upon a diseased action or 
irritated condition of the stomach and bowels, are 
also most effectually removed by a persevering use 
of the water. 

This water contains a larger proportion of iodine 
than any other of the mineral springs of Saratoga. 
As a medicine this substance is known to possess 
important qualities; and it has been introduced 
as a remedy in the cure of almost every species of 
chronic affection. It is supposed to exert a special 
influence over the absorbent or lymphatic system ; 
and in the treatment of goitre and scrofula, as well 
as all other diseases attended with indolent en- 
largement of the glands, it has maintained a high 



-<> 



SARATOGA SFBINGS. 41 

and deserved reputation. In cases of scrofula, the 
use of this water has been uniformly attended with 
benefit, and frequently has resulted in the entire re- 
moval of the disease. In all dyspeptic and bilious dis- 
eases it is eminently beneficial, as also in the remo- 
val and cure of the thousand unpleasant results of 
constipation. Those who drink this water find that it 
requires less to affect them as a cathartic after using 
it a few weeks or months than when first taken. 

This water is especially adapted to the successful 
treatment of rheumatism and gout, which are cer- 
tain to be improved or cured by its use ; and all 
eruptive diseases of the skin, pimples, Notches, and 
ulcers, are most effectually eradicated, while its 
purifying effect adds tone to the stomach, and in- 
vigorates the whole system. As a preventive or 
remedy for the diseases natural to warm climates, 
especially intermittent, gastric and bilious fevers, 
dysenteries, and disorders of the liver, this water i3 
a remedy of remarkable efficacy. It gives vigor 
to the circulation, removes constipation, creates an 
appetite, and promotes a healthy condition of all 
the secretions and excretions of the system. 

The directions for using this water are the same 
as for Congress Water, and those who use the bottled 
waters will find a pint bottle ordinarily sufficient 
as a cathartic in the morning, but a larger portion 
may be taken if deemed necessary to increase the 
effect, and the quantity required can be determined 
always by a fair trial of the water. 



42 SARATOGA SPRINGS. 

As an alterative, from one-fourth, to a whole tum- 
bler should be taken three or four times a day. 

As a diuretic or tonic it should be taken between 
meals, a glass or two at a time. 

The Hon. Schuyler Colfax states that Empire 
"Water is, to him, " the most agreeable in taste of 
all the Saratoga Waters." In it are happily com- 
bined the properties of an efficient medicinal agent, t 
and those of a pleasant and exhilarating beverage. 

Columbian Water. — This water, possessing 
valuable diuretic, tonic, and alterative properties, 
is deserving special attention from those who are 
suffering the debility and prostration which result 
from long-continued diseases of the kidneys and 
bladder, gravel, and irritated condition of the ure- 
thra, aggravated, it may be, by neglect or impru- 
dence. In all such cases the Columbian Water can 
be used with the assurance of immediate relief from 
the annoying and distressing symptoms which be- 
long to this class of diseases, and of the restoration 
of the healthy action of those organs. 

As a chalybeate mineral water it possesses sin- 
gularly active properties, which have the effect to 
dissolve the calculi, and prevent accumulation of 
deposits in the bladder. For the distressing dis- 
ease known as diabetes, it stands unrivaled as a 
remedial agent. A fair trial will remove all doubts 
of its positive beneficial effects in all inflammatory 
conditions of the urinary passages, and while acting 



♦- 



SARATOGA SPRINGS. 43 

as a curative, its tonic effects combine to give 
strength and vigor to the impaired powers of 
the system. 

The large quantities of free gas, together with 
the iron so abundant in it, render it a tonic of 
great value in many cases of irritable and weak 
digestive and assimilating organs. Its use is found 
to strengthen the tone of the stomach, and to 
increase the red particles in the blood, which, 
according to Liebig, perform an important part in 
respiration. Experiments have proved that the 
number of these particles may be doubled by the 
use of preparations of iron ; but it must be remem- 
bered that the ordinary preparations of this mineral, 
to be obtained of the apothecary, produce compar- 
atively little effect, passing as they do through 
the alimentary passages with very little absorp- 
tion. Mineral waters, on the contrary, as may be 
inferred from the experiments of Dr. Beaumont, 
are introduced into the blood by the absorb- 
ents of the stomach, without any previous depo- 
sition or digestion, and "are thus admitted to 
the inner coats of all the blood-vessels, and to 
the minutest branches of the secretory appa- 
ratus." 

In liver complaints, in dyspepsia, in erysipelas 
and all cutaneous diseases, as also with slowly-heal- 
ing tcounds and ulcers, this water, taken in small 
quantities — say, half a tumblerful at a draught — 
but frequently through the day, and preceded by 



* 



44 SARATOGA SPRINGS. 

the free use of Congress or Empire Water, taken 
before breakfast (to promote free action of the 
bowels), will be found highly beneficial, strengthen- 
ing, and restorative. 

As a remedy also for chlorosis, and a variety of 
other complaints peculiar to the female sex, this 
water is especially recommended, and will piove a 
great blessing, adapted to restore the health and 
vigor of youth, and to impart a freshness and 
beauty to the complexion which can not be re- 
tained unless the female system is free from 
obstruction and in a healthy condition. These 
difficulties, being generally chronic in their 
nature, require a persevering use of the water ; and 
in most cases, to insure the best results, the bowels 
should be kept open by the occasional use of Con- 
gress or Empire Water taken in the morning. The 
want of a free action of the bowels is, indeed, often 
the procuring cause of many difficulties, such as 
irregularity and suppression, which might be 
avoided by the combined use of these waters, 
which, causing neither pain, nausea, nor any other 
unpleasant symptoms, yet impart freshness and 
vigor by their peculiar effects. 

Physicians at the springs, and elsewhere, fre- 
quently prescribe Columbian Water to follow a 
course of treatment with the more aperient waters 
of the Congress and Empire Springs. When suf- 
fering from the prostration and debility following 
either of the various forms of bilious, intermittent, 



SARATOGA SPRINGS. 45 

and gastric fevers, the patient finds its reparative 
effects extremely beneficial. 

The quantity of water from this spring to be used 
daily must necessarily depend, in a great measure, 
on the state of the disease, and the condition of the 
stomach. It is therefore best to commence its use 
in small quantities at a time, and at regular inter- 
vals, gradually increasing the quantity and fre- 
quency of the draughts, as may be most agreeable 
to the stomach, and best adapted for each peculiar 
constitution or complaint. 

The proprietors bottle it in half pints, so that it 
can be used without waste, a half pint being ordi- 
narily sufficient for two draughts as prescribed. 
It is also bottled in pints, for those who prefer it 
put up in this manner. 

When drank, the water betrays a strong chalyb- 
eate taste, and a pungency indicative of the pres- 
ence of a large portion of carbonic acid. 



DANGER OP ARTIFICIAL WATERS. 

The important services which these waters have 
rendered far away from their source, and the con- 
sequent increasing demand for them, have had 
the effect to stimulate the manufacture of arti- 
ficial mineral waters, which have frequently been 



46 SARATOGA SPRINGS. 



imposed upon the public by unscrupulous dealers 
as the genuine waters of these springs. 

The use of the terms " Congress Water," " Co- 
lumbian Water," or " Empire Water," alone or in 
combination with other words, when applied to 
any other than the liquids naturally flowing from 
these springs, is an evident violation of the rights 
of the proprietors, and a fraud upon the public. 
In a recent case, determined in the United States 
Court, the manufacturer and vendor of an artificial 
compound sold as Congress Water were enjoined 
from putting up or selling " any water not of the 
natural flow of the said spring, in bottles or 
packages marked with the words ' Congress Wa- 
ter/ or with words of like import." It would be 
well for the public if this matter were more fully 
understood, as the articles thus offered are entirely 
worthless, and often dangerous, the effects of them 
being wholly different from that of the genuine 
waters, frequently producing griping pains, ver- 
tigo, etc., and sometimes resulting in serious per- 
manent difficulties. They weaken the digestive 
powers, and destroy the tone of the stomach and 
bowels, often rendering a mild case of dyspepsia 
incurable. Old boxes and bottles, bearing the 
genuine brands, are often bought up by counter- 
feiters for the purpose of filling them with their 
valueless articles — for which reason purchasers 
should always examine the corks, which can not 
be used a second time, and which, if the waters 



SARATOGA SPRINGS. 47 

are genuine, will have the brand of the bottling 
company. 

The injury inflicted by the sale of these artificial 
compounds upon the proprietors and the public is 
double ; for on taking these spurious articles, 
and finding either no effect, or injurious effects, 
from their use, purchasers in future refuse the gen- 
uine waters, supposing they have already tried 
them ; or, knowing that the waters used are arti- 
ficial, decline the natural waters on the supposi- 
tion that they have tried what is in substance the 
same, without benefit— as if there existed the 
slightest comparison between them ! 

That it is impossible to form these waters arti- 
ficially, the testimony of scientific men is uniform 
and abundant. " It is impossible," says the cele- 
brated English chemist, Sir Humphrey Davy, 
" to recombine the ingredients so as to make an 
article of equal quality, the effects of which will be 
the same as the natural water." The language of 
the late Dr. James Johnson, of London, is as 
follows : " Mineral waters contain many agents 
which we can not imitate by artificial combina- 
tions. This is proved by every day's observations. 
Thus, the saline, aperient mineral waters will pro- 
duce ten times more effect than the identical mate- 
rials artificially dissolved and mixed. The same is 
true with respect to the chalybeate springs. A 
grain of iron in them is more tonic than twenty 
grains exhibited according to the pharmacop&ia." 



48 SARATOGA SPRINGS. 

An acorn may be analyzed, but it is as impos- 
sible for the chemist to form an acorn from its 
chemical elements as it is for him to create the 
oak, which in the course of nature the acorn is 
destined to produce. To give the name, therefore, 
of Congress Water to a mere solution of common 
salt, s*xla, magnesia, lime, and iron, or other min- 
erals, is as absurd as to give the name of wine to a 
mixture of cream of tartar, alcohol, and mineral 
salts, which this liquid proves to be when analyzed. 

In so important a matter it is deemed well to 
add the testimony of Dr. Constantjne James, to 
be found in his " Practical Guide to the Mineral 
Watering-places of Europe." " Artificial mineral 
waters of the best fabrication are, in a medical 
and chemical point of view, only a poor counterfeit 
of the real waters whose names they usurp. They 
are_dpubly pernicious, as they do not attain the 
physician's aims, and cast a certain discredit on 
the genuine production." 

The testimony of Dr. A. A. Hayes, and S. Dana 
Hayes, Esq., State Assayers for Massachusetts, is 
to the same effect. "Although we know just 
what the genuine water contains, an artificial 
water made by the analysis would not be the 
same thing medicinally. Mineral waters are the 
productions of natural, chemical agencies, aided by 
time, and we really know but little of the result- 
ing combinations and their physiological effects." 

However skillfully combined, therefore, the 



SARATOGA SPRINGS. 49 

manufactured imitations may be, they are desti- 
tute of the characteristic properties which Nature 
so mysteriously and abundantly supplies in these 
springs. The editor of the New York Gazette gives 
his readers a timely caution, as follows : " If you 
don't want to grow old prematurely; if you would 
keep the teeth in your mouth, the luster in your 
eyes ; if you would not have a used-up digestive 
apparatus; if you would give a wide berth to 
Bright's disease, which is making so many bite 
the dust, — then first and most of all, don't drink the 
manufactured mineral waters that are offered from 
numberless fountains. They are sadly injurious, 
and very many people are drinking them to excess/.' 

" GO TO THE NATURAL. SPRINGS," Says Dr. BOUR- 

don, a celebrated French physician. " Nature is 

PAR BETTER THAN THE LABORATORY. I CAN NOT 
CONDEMN IN TOO STRONG TERMS THE USE OP ARTI- 
FICIAL MINERAL WATERS. THEY NEVER REPLACE 
THOSE OP THE NATURAL SPRINGS." 



PUTTING UP THE WATERS FOR 
SALE. 

Probably not one-fifth part of the waters of 
these springs which are used medicinally are 
drank in Saratoga. Multitudes, it is true, flock 
here during the summer mouths, but their stay is 



SARATOGA SPRINGS. 51 

usually limited to a few brief weeks — a time, in 
many cases, too short for these mild, natural rem- 
edies to accomplish their perfect work. Thou- 
sands of visitors, therefore, find it necessary to 
continue the use of the waters after leaving the 
springs, and great numbers of other sufferers from 
the various ills which flesh is heir to, who are not 
able to visit Saratoga, still find the waters a source 
of comfort and health. Thus, while the benefit of 
these springs is enjoyed, at Saratoga, only by a 
comparatively limited number of persons, and 
principally during a brief season, their blessings 
are carried, by means of the bottled waters, all 
over the world, and are dispensed to multiplied 
thousands, without regard to season or climate. A 
large and important branch of commerce has thus 
sprung into existence, involving a liberal expen- 
diture of capital, and furnishing employment, 
directly or indirectly, to a great number of persons. 

The bottling and packing is carried on through- 
out the year, and, except during the height of the 
visiting season, when so much is consumed at the 
springs as materially to decrease the supply for 
bottling, the work is prosecuted night and day. 
The arrangements for this purpose are the most 
complete of any thing of the kind in the country, 
and all the various operations are carried on with 
a care, skill, and perfection unsurpassed. 

In order to increase their facilities, the spring 
company have erected a glass-factory in the village, 



SARATOGA SPRINGS. 53 

where they not only make all the "bottles required 
in their own immense business, but fill large 
orders for all kinds of bottles for other purposes. 
Some eighteen or twenty neat cottages in the same 
part of the village have been erected by the com- 
pany for the use of their factory operatives. 

Each bottle, before being filled, is thoroughly 
washed and rinsed with both warm and cold water, 
a stream of each of which is constantly pouring 
into the tanks before the washers. To detach any 
impurities that can not be removed by other means, 
a small brass chain is dropped into each bottle and 
thoroughly shaken about. The substitution of this 
simple and effective method of cleansing for the 
use of shot or pebbles is an improvement 
which might well be adopted loy every housewife. 

The corks are either manufactured or imported 
expressly for this company, ncne but the finest 
quality being used. For the protection of the 
public against manufactured, inferior, or spurious 
mineral waters, each cork is distinctly branded on 
the side with the name of the water and the initials 
of the company, thus : — 

Congress Water, Empire Water, 
C. & E. S. Co. C. & E. S. Co. 

Columbian Water, 
C. & E. S. Co. 

The brands used for this purpose are set into a 
small table, their lettered faces being nearly level 



<> 

SARATOGA SPRINGS. 55 



with its surface. They are kept hot by a jet of 
gas turned on them from below, and the corks 
receive their brand by being rolled over the heated 
types — an expert boy performing the simple oper- 
ation with great rapidity. 

The wire used for securing the corks is manu- 
factured expressly for the purpose from the finest 
quality of copper, some 2.000 lbs. being required 
annually. 

The packing-boxes are made on the premises, and 
are of uniform shape and size, each box holding 
two dozen quart, or four dozen pint bottles. 
Each box receives the peculiar brand of the com- 
pany, put on with stencil plates. Purchasers 
should be familiar with these brands, as well as 
with those upon the corks, and should carefully 
observe them when buying the waters. 

Each box of Congress Water is branded on the 
end thus : 

THE 

COXtillKSS WATKlt 

AIIE liltAXUEl) THUS 

C0XG11KSS WATER 



♦■ 



56 SARATOGA SPRINGS. 

Each box of Congress Water is branded on the 
top thus : 

GLASS 
&* v <% ■ 

CONGRESS SPRING 

WATJ3H 

SAUAT(M>A SMUNGS 

5 ""V 



Empire and Columbian Water boxes are simi- 
larly branded, the name, of course, being appro- 
priately changed in each case. 

The water is pumped from the spring through 
pure block tin pipes into a receiver holding from 
five to six gallons, from which it is drawn into the 
bottles ; the pipes, pump, and receiver being so 



SARATOGA SPRINGS. 57 

constructed as to prevent any escape of the nat- 
ural gases. The corks, after being soaked in 
warm water until they become so soft as to be 
easily compressed, are driven into the bottles by 
machinery, the process reducing their size before 
entering the bottles about one-third. It requires a 
strong bottle to stand the pressure of their expan- 
sion after being driven in, and even strong men 
sometimes find it difficult to pull them out. A 
single workman will fill and cork from fifteen to 
twenty dozen bottles per hour. 

After being filled and corked, the bottles are laid 
upon their sides in large bins, holding from one 
hundred and fifty to two hundred dozen each, 
where they are allowed to remain four or five days, 
or longer, to test the strength of the bottles by the 
expansion of the gas, and also to detect any corks 
that may be leaky or otherwise imperfect. The 
breakage while in this situation, is about five 
per cent, of the whole number filled, and some- 
times more. The bottles frequently burst with a 
sharp report, like the firing of a pistol or the 
cracking of champagne bottles. Every bottle that 
breaks, either while in the testing-bins, or in any of 
the various processes of washing, filling, or pack- 
ing, is registered in the office of the company, by 
means of wires going from different parts of the 
establishment, and centering there in an apparatus 
arranged for the purpose. All leaky corks are 
drawn, and the bottles refilled with water direct 



SARATOGA SPRINGS. 59 

from tlie spring. While all these precautions 
add largely to the expense of putting up the 
waters, they render a leaky, and consequently a 
bad bottle of Congress, Empire, or Columbian 
Water almost impossible, and they also render 
the breakage of bottles in subsequent handling a 
matter of rare occurrence. 

When the bottles and corks have been thus 
thoroughly tested, the corks are securely wired, 
this operation being performed with great rapidity 
by employes long trained to the work. 

The next process is the packing in cases, which 
is also done with great care and remarkable dex- 
terity. The neck of each bottle is firmly wound 
with clean new straw, and the bottles are placed 
on their sides in tiers of equal number, a parting 
strip of straw being laid between each bottle and its 
neighbor on either side. A layer of straw is also 
placed between the tiers of bottles, as well as at the 
top and bottom of the box. When the box is filled, 
the packer walks over the bottles, for the double pur- 
pose of settling them properly in their places, and 
as a further test of their strength, before the lid is 
put in its place and nailed down. If a bottle 
gives way under the weight of the packer, of 
course the whole box is emptied, and not again 
repacked until it is thoroughly dry, as must be all 
the straw which is used for packing. 

As immense quantities of these waters are put 
up during the winter months, when the demand is 



60 SARATOGA SPRINGS. 

comparatively small, and when the weather is 
usually too cold for their safe transportation, large 
storage capacity is required to secure and protect 
the stock on hand. Some idea of the room re- 
quired for this purpose may be formed from the 
fact that the buildings used exclusively for storing 
water in boxes, at the Congress Spring alone, have 
an area of over twelve thousand square feet on 
the ground floor, with capacity for safely keep- 
ing at a proper temperature through the winter 
months more than twenty thousand boxes of the 
water. 

The Company receive visitors at their bottling 
houses with great courtesy, and a pleasant hour 
may be spent in examining their establishment. 




v 



The Song of the Fountain Spirit. 



A lady contributes the following poetical tribute to the 
virtues of these -wonderful waters, whose mysterious origin 
she fancifully describes : 

4 " I dwell below ! I dwell below ! 

And mortals on earth can never know 
The beauty and splendor that fill the home 
From whence their precious fountains come, — 
Bubbling up till they burst without, 
Sparkling, rippling, and dancing about, 
Freighted with health and brilliant with light, 
Soothing the ear, and entrancing the sight." 

Thus sings the spirit, in musical flow, 
In the glittering cave whose silvery glow, — 
From the crystal floor to the vaulted nave, 
The sculptured wall and the architrave, 
The wreath-crowned column and canopy, 
Cornice and arch and tracery, — 



62 SONG OF THE FOUNTAIN SPIRIT. 

Outrivals the light of the fairest moon, 
Or noontide glow of the summer sun. 
She wieldeth her wand with a potent sway, 
Distilling, with magical alchemy, 
These healing waters, the bountiful draught, 
The health-giving nectar all may quaff. 
To her is given the guardian care 
Of the living fountains pure and fair ; 
Ever — forever — to blend and measure 
The portions that form the crystal treasure — 
And a benison prayer she breathes as she sings 
Of the health-giving Waters that flow from the 
springs. 

" Come, ye who suffer, and lose your pain ; 
From beds of languishing rise again ; 
Drink of these waters for you unsealed, 
Partake of the fountains by Nature revealed 1 
O children of earth ! to you they are given, 
And the fairy's skill is the blessing of Heaven." 

Congeess Pake, Sabatoga, 1S67. 



SARATOGA SPRINGS. 63 



Analysis of Congress Spring Water. 

The solid and gaseous contents of this water, 
according to an analysis made by Dr. John H. 
Steele, at the Spring, are as follows : 

GRAINS. 

Chloride of Sodium 385.000 

Hydriodate of Soda 3.500 

Bi-Carbonate of Soda 8.982 

Bi-Carbonate of Magnesia 95.788 

Carbonate of Lime 98.098 

Carbonate of Iron 5.075 

Silex and Alumina 500 

Hydro-Bromate of Potash, a trace. 

Solid contents in a gallon . 597.943 

Carbonic Acid Gas 311 cu. inches. 

Atmospheric Air 7 " " 

Gaseous contents in a gallon. . 318 en. inches. 
The corks of the genuine Congress Water are 
branded thus : Congress Water, 

C & E. S. Co. 



Analysis of Empire Spring Water. 
The Analysis of the Empire Water, by Professor 
E. Emmons, is as follows ; 

GEATNS. 

Chloride of Sodium .269.696 

Bi-Carbonate of Lime 141.824 

Bi-Carbonate of Magnesia 41.984 

Bi-Carbonate of Soda 30.848 

Hydriodate of Soda, or Iodine 12.000 

Bi-Carbonate of Iron, a trace 

Solid contents in a gallon 496,352 



O 



64 SAKATOGA SPRINGS. 

Specific gravity 1.039 grs. 

Carbonic Acid Gas 315 cu. inches. 

Atmospheric Air. . . 6 5 " 

320 en. inches. 
The corks of all genuine Empire Water are 

branded thus : 

Empire Water, 
C. & E. S. Co. 



Analysis of Columbian Water. 

The specific gravity of this water is 1007.3 ; its 
solid and gaseous contents as follows : 

GEAIN8. 

Chloride of Sodium .267.00 

Bi-Carbonate of Soda . . 15.40 

Bi-Carbonate of Magnesia 46.71 

Hydriodate of Soda 2.56 

Carbonate of Lime 68.00 

Carbonate of Iron , 5.58 

Silex 2.05 

Hydro Bromate of Potash, scarcely 
a trace 

Solid contents in a gallon 407.30 

Carbonic Acid Gas 272.06 inches. 

Atmospheric Air , . . 4.50 

276.56 inches. 

The corks of the genuine Columbian Water 

are branded thus : 

Columbian Water, 

a&E. S. Co. 



o- 



Congress, Empire, and Columbian 
SPRING WATERS. 



These Waters are bottled fresh from each of the 
above-named Springs, in so careful and secure a 
manner that they preserve all their medicinal value 
for years, and are safely and securely packed in 
boxes suitable for shipment to any part of the world. 

Congress and Empire Waters, 

packed in boxes containing four dozen pint, or two 
dozen quart bottles each. 

Columbian Water, 

packed in boxes containing four dozen pint or half- 
pint bottles each. 

SOLD ONLY AT WHOLESALE BY 

B. B. HOTCHKISS & Co., 

SARATOGA SPRINGS, and 94 CHAMBERS ST., N Y 

ALSO BY THE FOLLOWING WHOLESALE AGENTS I 

Bullock & Crenshaw, cor. 6th and Arch Streets, 
Philadelphia, Penn. 

Smith & Dwyer, 92 & 94 Lake Street, Chicago, 111. 

F. E. Suire & Co., cor. 4th and Vine Streets, Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio. 

Scott & Mellier, 600 Main Street, cor. Washing- 
ton Avenue, St Louis, Mo. 

E. J. Hart & Co., 73, 75, & 77 Tchoupitoulas Street, 
New Orleans, La. 

R. H. McDonald & Co., San Francisco and Sacra- 
mento, Cal. 
Orders by mail will receive prompt attention. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

motq 021 Q62 874 

The Copartnership heretofore existing be- 
tween the undersigned, under the style of j 
B. B. Hotchkiss & Co., has been dissolved by j 
mutual consent. B. B. Hotchkiss is author- j 
ized to sign the firm name in liquidation and I 
settlement of the business. 

B. B. HOTCHKISS, 
New York, Jan, 1, 1869. S. E. INGHAM. 



The contract between Messrs. B. B. Hotchkiss 
& Co. and the Congeess and Empire Spring Com- 
pany, for the sale of the Congress, Empire and Co- 
lumbian Spring Waters, having been terminated by 
mutual consent, the business of selling the Waters 
will hereafter be conducted by the Congress and 
Empire Spring Company. The Company will con- 
tinue to bottle the Waters as heretofore, fresh • from 
the springs, and in the most careful manner, suit- 
able for shipment to any part of the world. 

Orders by mail will receive prompt attention, and 
are respectfully solicited. 

Address, 

Congress and Empire Spring Company, 

(New York Dept.) 94 CHAMBERS ST., NEW YORK, 
or, SARATOGA SPRINGS, N. Y. 



B^" For Sale by all Druggists. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



021 062 874 5 jp 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



021 062 874 5 



